


changkyu | a day without you

by plincess_cho (ai_hao)



Series: 잠들고 싶어 (In My Dream) | Changmin x Kyuhyun [4]
Category: DBSK | Tohoshinki | TVfXQ | TVXQ, Super Junior
Genre: Author: Ai, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-22
Updated: 2015-10-22
Packaged: 2018-04-27 15:33:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5054203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ai_hao/pseuds/plincess_cho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kyuhyun stares at the Tokyo skyline and misses Changmin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	changkyu | a day without you

Kyuhyun stares out the window at the brightly lit Tokyo skyline. Every other time he's been to Tokyo, the skyline seems to glitter with life and vibrancy, but not tonight. Tonight, the neon lights and LCD screens look cheap and fake, a false mirage of hollow promises and fleeting pleasures. Kyuhyun normally loves traveling: he loves seeing new places, meeting new people, and trying new foods. He always tries to soak up every bit of history and culture, which is why he usually wakes up at 6am each day of travel.

But now, things are different. Changmin enlisted the month before, and Kyuhyun's been so busy that he hasn't had time to properly process it. They had known that this day would come, but now that it has finally come and gone, Kyuhyun doesn't know how to feel. He's not worried about Changmin forgetting him or anything like that. He's not the jealous type to begrudge his best friend other friends. And he's realistic about enlistment: the sooner it happens, the sooner it ends. He'll be enlisting soon too of course, but he's trying not to think about that, which isn't too hard. He has schedules every day; he even had musical performances on Christmas day. He loves performing and loves musicals, but on Christmas? Not that he'd had a girlfriend to take on a Christmas date, but he'd already missed Chuseok.

Kyuhyun sighs and leans against the glass door leading out to a balcony. On a whim, he steps outside in just a sweater. He can see his breath in the air and wonders if it will snow. He shivers at the chill but doesn't go back inside. He needs time to think and maybe the cold night air will keep him awake for just a few moments more.

Kyuhyun remembers a similarly cold night a few years ago when he and Changmin realized they had overlapping schedules in Japan. It had been so miserably cold that day, and Changmin complained the entire walk to the restaurant. Kyuhyun remembers just chuckling at his best friend: it wouldn't be a night out with Shim Chwang without his incessant griping. They stumbled into some place Changmin had been the month before, and the hostess recognized them. She immediately led them to a secluded booth in the back, for which Kyuhyun was grateful.

"You've got to try the beer here," Changmin said. Kyuhyun initially grimaced, but Changmin continued, "You'll like it: trust me."

He liked it so much that he was pleasantly buzzed on their walk back. His feet had a bit of trouble walking properly, but he didn't care. The winter didn't seem as biting now that his insides were warm with the burn of alcohol and the hot food they'd devoured. Kyuhyun was eternally grateful for Changmin's mastery of Japanese, particularly his restaurant vocabulary.

"How is it that we don't have time in Korea so we have to meet up in a foreign country?" Changmin asked as they waited for the bus. "When did we get so busy?"

"2009?" Kyuhyun replied. He buried his face further into his scarf. "Don't worry: when we enlist, we'll have more time."

Changmin laughed. "You might, but I won't. I'm not going into public service."

"You're not?" Kyuhyun asked, half surprised.

"I don't have a crushed pelvis," Changmin reminded him. "I mean I don't want to go into active duty like Leeteuk or anything, but I've been thinking of taking the police exam."

"Oh," Kyuhyun replied. If he honestly thought about it, he hadn't been expecting to enlist into the same division as Changmin, but...

"Besides, why are we talking about enlistment? We still have plenty of time!" Changmin continued.

Kyuhyun never had plenty of time. He should've known that then, but he knows it now.

“Fuck,” he says aloud. He misses Changmin. He really really misses him. He misses getting drunk after shows. He misses pranking Minho together. He misses stumbling into his parents' house late at night, red wine bottles in hand. He misses Changmin coming to his musicals to cheer him on. He misses discussing which songs to prepare for his next solo album. He misses eating until they can't move. He misses yelling at the TV when they lose a game. He misses planning collab stages together. Hell, he even misses Changmin's nitpicky neat freak habits that always drive him crazy.

Kyuhyun's toes are starting to freeze, so he goes back inside to warm up. He showers quickly before climbing underneath the covers. The hotel bed is as comfortable as can be expected. Now that there are fewer members traveling for Super Junior events, they don't have to share rooms as often. Kyuhyun suspects everyone else enjoys that a bit more than he does: they don't have to listen to his snoring. He chuckles, thinking about the first time Donghae shared a room with him. He'd woke up in a fright, thinking there was a bear about to maul him.

Kyuhyun reaches over for his phone to set his alarm for the next day, when he sees the little indicator signaling the arrival of a new message.

_lord_voldemin: r u up?_

He hurries to type back.

_gaemgyu: yeah what's up?  
_ _lord_voldemin: what country r u in?_

Normally, Kyuhyun would take time to revel at the marvel of that question. He could be in any country at any given moment. But tonight, he simply types back.

_gaemgyu: japan_  
_gaemgyu: for super camp 10th anniv stuff  
_ _lord_voldemin: cool i'll call u on kkt then_

Kyuhyun accepts the incoming call. "Yo."

"Yo man," Changmin replies. "I don't have much time, but I just got approvals for a few days of holiday in April. Want to go back to Busan? I'd say let's go to Thailand like we'd initially talked about, but I can't leave the country."

"Sure," Kyuhyun replies. "What dates?"

Changmin tells him and Kyuhyun makes a note.

"Let's go to that seafood place we went to last time," Changmin says. "I'll probably have to meet you there instead of traveling together."

"No problem," Kyuhyun replies. "I'll plan everything out."

"I knew you would," Changmin says, a smile in his voice.

Kyuhyun hears a muffled voice in the background. "Talking to your girlfriend, Shim?"

"Yeah, your mom," Changmin replies, and Kyuhyun laughs at the childishness of the retort.

"That's all you've got?" he asks.

"Shut up," Changmin says. "How's Japan?"

"Meh," Kyuhyun replies honestly. "I was thinking about that time we randomly met up here."

"Oh yeah," Changmin says. "I traveled all over Europe but couldn't find better beer than that place we went to."

They only have a few minutes. Changmin assures him he's healthy and doing well. Kyuhyun replies the same, but Changmin can hear the tiredness in his voice.

"I've got to go... Take care of yourself, okay?" Changmin says, his voice soft.

"You too," Kyuhyun replies. "Bye Chwang."

"Bye Kyu."

They hang up and Kyuhyun goes back to setting his alarm. Their conversation wasn't long, but it was enough.

*

When Kyuhyun looks out at the skyline again, the neon lights don't look so harsh. They'd be able to come back soon.

Just a few more years.


End file.
